Setsuna's Folly
by Ghanimachan
Summary: Setsuna makes a decision which alters the Time Stream for the worst.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: Sailormoon was created by Takeuchi Naoko. I'm just borrowing her characters.  
  
  
  
Inside the Time Gate, it was comfortable, but Setsuna shivered despite the temperature. Something was not right. She turned around and looked into the mist, waving her staff about, trying to chase away the clouds. She then saw the shadowy figure standing in front of her.  
  
Mugen.  
  
Pluto's senshi shivered again. "Why do you grace me with your presence, Lord Mugen?" She asked the question though she knew perfectly well why he had come to visit her. "How can I serve you?"  
  
"You upset the flow of time, Guardian." Mugen came closer, still hunched over, allowing the hood of his cloak to shield his face. Setsuna remembered the rumors she had heard in Serenity's Palace about Mugen. It was said that Mugen, out of a terrible rage, killed those who saw his countenance. Setsuna looked away.  
  
She had been visited by him only twice before. Each visit for altering the flow of time. Mugen had told her on the third disturbance that Setsuna would be severely punished. Setsuna began to sweat in the mist, wondering if her punishment would be execution. In the back of her mind, Setsuna knew such a punishment would be too easy to hope for.  
  
"What is to be my punishment, Lord Mugen?" Setsuna gripped the time staff tightly, her knuckles beginning to whiten.  
  
Mugen remained silent for what seemed like an eternity to Pluto. "Why did you risk your life for that moon child?" He asked in a whisper. "You had not defied me in half a millennium, why now?"  
  
"The child, the princess . . . befriended me, Lord Mugen." The tears were beginning to flow down Pluto's cheeks. "I was so lonely and she . . . was the only one who seemed to care. I couldn't let her die."  
  
"I see." Mugen nodded to himself, "Foolish girl . . . do you not understand what you have DONE? Do you know what is to come because of your recklessness?"  
  
Setsuna cowered and cried in body-wracking sobs. She fell to her knees in front of Mugen, humiliated, but at this point unable to control her tears. "I am so sorry!"  
  
"I know you are sorry, foolish girl, but you will be sorrier still." Mugen's furious voice hissed. "Your punishment will be to watch, powerless, as Crystal Tokyo is reduced to rubble."  
  
Setsuna stiffened. "For my punishment, you would destroy-"  
  
"Hardly. I will do nothing of the sort. Your precious princess will." With that, Mugen disappeared, leaving Setsuna to weep in the mist. 


	2. Setsuna's Folly: Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Sailormoon was created by Takeuchi Naoko. I'm just borrowing her characters.  
  
  
  
Setsuna awoke and looked about the mist. She must have fallen asleep crying. With a start, she realized her time staff was missing. Without it, she would no longer be able to leave the Gate. She would no longer be able to see into the Time Stream. Mugen had truly left her powerless to stop what was to come. But . . . someone else, surely, would be able to. Right?  
  
Her mind worked furiously to find a solution. How would she warn Crystal Tokyo? The only possible way for a message to leave the Gate now was for Chibi-Usa to visit her . . . Setsuna prayed earnestly that she would. Perhaps she would be able to keep the princess from making costly mistakes. Pluto bit her lip. As she had done.  
  
But it wasn't likely, she concluded. At this moment, the young princess had just returned from the past and was getting reacquainted with her home. The palace was celebrating and it didn't seem like a possibility that anyone would be visiting her anytime soon. Setsuna pushed that bitter thought away and continued to think.  
  
Pluto's eyes widened as an idea came to her. Nodding to herself, Pluto knelt in the mist and concentrated all the power she had into a message. She hoped it would work.  
  
  
  
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"I couldn't find her anywhere," Mars cried between breaths. "Do you think the Black Moon has already gotten to her?"  
  
"No," Sailorvenus gritted out. "They can't have her. We won't let them." She turned to Mercury and Jupiter who were running to join them. "How's Serenity?"  
  
"We sealed her encasement into the upper room, but we shouldn't leave it alone long," Mercury cautioned. "The enemy won't hesitate to destroy her."  
  
"Endymion?" Mars asked.  
  
Mercury and Jupiter shared a look. "He's wounded, badly." Jupiter's mouth was set in a determined line. "He won't be able to help us." Mars nodded softly.  
  
"We have to find the princess," Venus reminded the other senshi. "We have to hurry."  
  
"No need."  
  
The senshi turned to see Sailorpluto holding an unconscious pink-haired princess. She handed the child to Mars and a small key to Mercury. "Take Princess Serenity to the outskirts of the city, past the chaos. Wake her if she hasn't already come to and tell her to use this key. Tell her to find Sailormoon and the ginzuishou. She will know what to do." At the senshi's hesitation, Pluto shouted, "Hurry!"  
  
Sailorpluto watched for a moment as the senshi fled from the city. She wished them luck and returned to her post.  
  
  
  
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Neo-Queen Serenity sat up in her bed, breathing hard and sweating. Black Moon Clan? She had just managed to begin running Crystal Tokyo without their haunting presence at the back of her mind. What a dream . . . but it had seemed so real. What did it mean?  
  
She walked over to the window and looked out into the night. A few guards patroled the palace grounds, but even so, it was a peaceful night. The scars from that crisis years ago had been nearly erased and forgotten. Almost.  
  
She turned and saw Endymion roll over in his sleep. She smiled. It was just a dream. Serenity crawled back under the covers and was soon in sweet slumber. 


End file.
